Faith, the Vampire Slayer
by Matt Lundahl
Summary: Faith has been chosen as the slayer by her watcher Kendall.


I feel as the blade pierces my skin, nearly drawing blood. Sometimes the shallow cuts can hurt the most. His actions; his moves are much faster than mine own, but I still manage to hold him off for a moment or two. I knock him back with a swift kick to the gut, staggering a step or two back myself, and I reach into the breast pocket of my coat for the stake.  
Seeing my action, the vampire leaps into the air, much higher than I had even known was capable of them, and lands behind me. I turn, but not fast enough; he hits me in the neck, knocking me to the ground and knocking the stake from my hand. I frantically search for the stake, but he kicks me in the head before I'm able to find anything.  
I feel as his fingers nimbly draw themselves through my hair, and he grabs a chunk of it for himself. He yanks back hard, actually lifting me off the ground, and promptly drops me back down again. I hit my jaw on the cement below me; hard. I feel as blood fills my mouth, and seeps out from my lips. He rolls me onto my back, and I'm stuck staring into his eyes as he stares into mine. He smiles, his fangs clearly showing.  
He places his hands on my wrists, and stradles over my mid-section, pinning me to the ground.  
"Did you think you could beat a demon, little girl?" he snarls wickedly as he slowly draws in to suck my blood. I can feel as his fangs pierce through the skin in my neck. I can feel as his lips surround the two small puncture wounds and he prepares to drain the blood from my body.  
I let out a short squeak, but I'm both too weak, and too afraid, to be able to save myself in this moment. I close my eyes, a single tear dripping from my left eye. I prepare for my death.  
In less than a second, there's dust filling the air, and a huge weight has been lifted from me. I open my eyes and look up to the sky. I see nothing above me; but I slowly sit up, and there, standing before me, is my watcher. She gives me a look of uncertainty, then offers her hand to me; I take it and stand.  
"That was close." she says without feeling. She examines my neck, then grabs both of my shoulders and looks me in the eyes sharply. "Are you alright?" I try to smile, but can't bring myself to; instead I wince in pain.  
"I'll... I'll be good..." I reply, raising my hand to my neck, holding back the blood that has started to seep from the vampire's bite. She places one arm around me, guiding me along with her, and she begins to lead me back to our home.  
"Next time you may not be so lucky," she says sharply, "we may have to step up the training. I don't want you dying." I stare at the ground. I'm never sure how to feel when she says things like that.  
I used to just be a girl; I used to be like any other Boston gal. Now I'm the slayer. One girl chosen to save the world from vampires. There's one minor problem though—I'd rather just sit in a corner and cry. I didn't choose this life, and I've no idea why it chose me.  
I'm not strong. I'm not even smart! I even dropped out of high school at the ripe age of fifteen. I'm sixteen years old right now; how can they take away my life like this? How can they expect me to be willing to not only GIVE my life... but be prepared to TAKE them if nescessary aswell?  
My name is Faith, and I am the vampire slayer.  
  
I had just run away from home when she found me. My parents were drunk, screaming, and I couldn't take it anymore. The abuse... it was all just too much for me; I needed a way out—I needed someone to help save me. Instead, I got a scary British woman.  
God works in mysterious ways.  
Her name was Kendall; she never told me her last name. She was never one for formalities, although she did look out for me from time to time, as was her job description.  
She approached me as I, sorry to say, was preparing myself to eat from a dumpster. I lifted the top open, I lifted myself in. I felt as the garbage crumpled beneath my feet, and some of it came up my pants, but I began to sift through what was to be my meal of the day. She stepped forward, slowly, silently. I never knew she was there.  
"Could you get me some of whatever you're having?" she asked, thick British accent in tow. I stared at her a moment in confusion. For some reason, having the British speak quips, have them mock you, seemed odd if you actually listened to their speach, but if you only listened to the accent... they still managed to sound incredibly dignified.  
I chose to ignore her, sneering her off as some onlooker who wanted to pity the poor hobo girl. She spoke once more: "It's usually proper for a girl to respond when spoken to." I straightened my back, angrily, and looked her in the face.  
"It's usually proper for a girl to be fed by her parents at the dinner table." I responded. The woman cracked a smile, surprising me. "What d'you want? I'm kinda busy."  
"Yes, I can see that." she replied. "Eating from a dumpster IS tiresome work."  
"Hey! It's not just ANY dumpster! This is McDonald's, baby!" I exclaimed, pointing towards her.  
"Yes. Classy indeed." she replied, smile still stuck on her like glue.  
"Listen, lady... if you're here to make fun'a me, could ya do it another time? I got things t'do." I told her, waiting for her response. She looked down at her hand a moment, then reached into her coat, taking out a handkerchief.  
"Come. Get yourself cleaned up. I have something to ask of you."  
  
"Faith! Do you get nothing from our exercises?" she asks, obviously annoyed. I look down in shame. "No," she begins rubbing her head, as she often does, "it's alright. I'm still just at a loss as to why YOU were chosen to be slayer..." I step forward.  
"Do YOU wanna fight the vampires then? Because I sure don't!" she gives me a look of both slight shock and distain.  
"Faith. You are the vampire slayer. There's nothing either of us can do about it..." Kendall begins. She paces back and forth in the large, looming training room we've both been living in for the past few months. "I admit that training you has been slightly... difficult..." I roll my eyes, "however, you do have potential."  
"Potential? Fantastic, Kendall! I have potential. Let's just tell all the vampire that..." she cuts me off, as she often does when she finds I'm being either improper or acting out of line.  
"You were chosen for a reason!" she screams, shutting me up entirely. I stare in wonder, contemplating the places that she might go with this. "Every slayer in the past has proven herself to be... to be more than anyone ever thought possible," she smiles at me knowingly, giving me a look of understanding and hoping that I know what she means by it, "and you shall surpass all of my expectations."  
"You... sorry to say... you don't seem to have to many expectations FOR me..." I wipe a peice of hair away from my face, tucking it sloppily behind my ear. She smiles, once more.  
"You have little strength... you aren't an incredible fighter..." she paces around again, "you aren't incredibly bright, no offense..."  
"Non taken."  
"And do you know why this is?" she stops pacing, facing me once more, and stares deep into my eyes. "Faith; do you know why this is?" I think a moment, staring at the floor, then return to her gaze.  
"Because I'm incompetant."  
"Because you're scared."  
  
Normally I wouldn't have followed a strange woman I didn't know, but she was offering both free food and a chance to clean myself up a bit, and I was in desperate need of both things.  
We both sat at the table together, facing each other awkwardly. I sipped my soup slowly as she spoke something about a prophecy, demons and other things that were absolute jibberish to me at the time. Makes me wonder what would've happened had I never run away—had I simply killed myself as I had thought of doing so many times before.  
"Are you listening to me, Faith?" she asked, I simply nodded, hoping she didn't realise that it was an incredible lie and I hadn't really taken in any of the information that she had offered me over our entire conversation. "Faith. I am to be YOUR watcher. YOU are the chosen girl. You are the vampire slayer." I began to choke a little. "Are... are you alright?"  
"I'm the vampire slayer?" I asked, dropping the spoon into the bowl of soup. She nodded.  
That was one of the defining moments of my life; it was the moment that would bring about my inevitable downfall.  
You see, as Kendall explained it to me, vampire slayers were short in number, worked quite hard, and died quite young. As you can tell, I was clearly excited about the prospect.  
"No! NO! I will NOT play into this... this FREAKSHOW! Find another puppet, psycho." I slammed my bowl of soup onto the table, stood, and angrily began to walk away.  
"Faith! Stop!" Kendall grabbed my arm. "I will train you. I will teach you to fight the vampires; to fight the darkness. Under my watch, you will be safe."  
  
"I'm not scared. How could you think that?" I ask, knowing that she can see right through me.  
"Every slayer is scared in the beginning. Ever slayer is scared in the end. It is what you do in between—how you act in between, that matters." She smiles, knowing that I can't get myself out of it no matter what I do.  
"But... being slayer. That means that I'm gonna... I'm going to..." I begin, not being able to get myself to say the words.  
"Die?" I nod, "Yes. You are going to die, but hopefully, you will have a long and healthy career. Many slayers have lived passed... well... they have lived passed your age..."  
"I'm sixteen..."  
"And many slayers have gotten to seventeen—even eighteen." Kendall grins at me, seeing how much more distraught I have become.  
  
Somehow, Kendall was able to convince me to stay with her until nightfall, at which point she took me to a nest of vampires.  
We came to an old building, looked abandoned, and she began to check the doors, noticing which were locked and which were open. She looked through the dingy and dirty windows, making sure of something. I could see her counting in her head, but I didn't want to disturb her train of thought. She turned to me abruptly and handed me a stick.  
"This is a stake."  
"This is a stick." she paused a moment, then continued.  
"Uhm... yes. Very cute. This is a stake. Aim for the hearts of the vampires. They will turn to dust almost immediately, at which point you MUST move on to the next vampire. Do you understand?"  
"Not particularily..." I replied. She gave an indescribable look, that was some sort of cross between disappointment, anger and understanding.  
"There are only five vampire inhabiting this building at the moment." she told me.  
"Oh." I responded, the tone of my voice implying I thought it was a small amount, when really in my head, five vampires seems like quite a lot.  
Within the span of three seconds, she flung open one of the doors and both of us rushed inside the building. She quickly dispatched of one vampire, while four others came rushing toward us.  
  
I stare at the ceiling during another sleepless morning, wondering what brought about my calling. Was it that my life was already worthless? Someone out there figured I need a purpose? Whatever brought about their decision, I really want to talk to 'em. Ask 'em why the hell it had t'be me.  
"Faith. Are you still up?" Kendall asks from a few feet away. I roll over, looking toward her cot. I nod, and she lets out a sigh.  
"You need to rest during the day to fight during the night." she tells me.  
"Yeah. I remember. Live like vampires to fight like vampires." I roll over to my other side, turning my back to her. "I remember the drill."  
"It will be easier to fight your enemy, to get into your enemy's skin, if you can understand why they act the way they do. What makes them what they are."  
"Of course."  
  
I stood in the middle of this huge battle, four vampire swarming around me, and all I could do was stand there and watch as my watcher took them on herself. She hit one quickly, dusting it, but another flew through the cloud and attacked her, wrestling her to the ground. When I finally realised that I would have to do something, it was already too late. I was knocked down, pinned under a vampire.  
I stared at it in shock a moment, wondering what I would do. It began getting closer to my neck and frantically, holding the stake in front of my chest, I heaved it forward.  
He arched back and let out a gasp, but did not explode. I missed the heart.  
I pulled the stake back out and stabbed once more, getting the heart and dusting him immediately. I began to cough at the surprise.  
  
I look out the window, it's night once more. Since I met Kendall, I don't feel like I really ever get to see the sun anymore. I'm not sure why I even bother to try.  
I hear Kendall's footsteps creeping up softly behind me, and wait until I can see her reflexion in the window before I turn around.  
"Are you ready to go slaying? Or would you prefer to stay in tonight?" Kendall looks at the bite mark still visible on my neck, "I would understand if you'd like to rest up for a night and just try again tomorrow." I nod simply, smiling a little. She gives me a slightly disappointed glance, but walks away without a word.  
I turn back to the window, expecting her to simply disappear. Instead she returns for a final word.  
"You will never truly consider yourself the slayer until you get out there on your own and slay something alone. Whenever you're ready, Faith. You do have the potential."  
  
Once I finally stood up, it seemed that Kendall had already killed the other vampires aswell. She looked at me and smiled, raising her arms into the air and turning in a circle. I gave her a strange look.  
"Is that out victory dance?" I asked in shock.  
"No. This is our new home. We will live here. We will train here. We will eat, sleep and slay here." she smiled. "This is our base of operations."  
"Well..." I looked up at the vaulted ceiling, rafters and vents everywhere, dingy, dirty and unsanitary, "it's not the Ritz, but... it'll do..."  
  
I walk through the night's streets, scared and determined. I'm not sure whether or not I want to meet a vampire tonight. Surely enough, I don't get a choice as one shows up.  
He walks slowly, sleekily, through the shadows; creeping out of an alleyway.  
"Little girls shouldn't wander the streets alone at night." he said, picking peices of flesh from his teeth.  
"Funny. I was gonna say the same thing to you." I reply non-hesitantly. He glares, furrowing his brow, and charges at me.  
In one swift motion I reach into my coat, bring out the stake and stab him. I watch his eyes nearly pop as he combusts and turns into dust before my eyes.  
My first real slay. I really do have potential.  
I really can consider myself the slayer.  
Vampires of the world beware: My name is Faith, and I am the vampire slayer. 


End file.
